It always seems that much more unfortunate when a guy in dies in music right before a band was about to hit it bigger. I am not sure if that was necessarily the case for these guys, but I remember back in 94 or 95 when Audie Pitre died. He was the bass player for Acid Bath, a melodic metal band that would have been a welcome addition to the late 90's popular metal boom. After he died the band never got back on track and they never really did much. It was so frustrating for me as a fan to know that there would be no more subsequent recordings and I wouldn't be able to share their greatness with the amount of fans that they should have been shared with, not to mention sad for the family and friends of the bandmember who would never see their son/daughter/friend get the proper rise to fame.

Totally. Ten Grand had received critical acclaim over the course of the past two years for their dynamic live shows. Their Southern release marks their best attempt yet to capture their energy on a recording. As for Matt, the few times that I spoke with him, I can say that the comments eulogizing him on the Ten Grand website were accurate -- he was a very warm and engaging person as well as a beacon of creativity.